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  • Tour & Design

  • Calibration

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Remote Control

  • Audio

  • Connectivity

  • Menus & Interface

  • Formats & Media

  • Power Consumption

  • Conclusion & Comparisons

  • Series Comparison

  • Ratings & Specs

  • Tour & Design
  • Calibration
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Remote Control
  • Audio
  • Connectivity
  • Menus & Interface
  • Formats & Media
  • Power Consumption
  • Conclusion & Comparisons
  • Series Comparison
  • Ratings & Specs

Tour & Design


From the front the Samsung LN40B650 features a glossy glassy bezel in very dark red, practically black, with a transparent edging. The bottom edge of the bezel curves down to a slight chin. Beneath the display is the Samsung logo and the on-tv controls are touch sensitive and embedded into the bezel on the lower right.

Back


The back of the Samsung LN40B650 is glossy black. Most of the ports are located on the back towards the left side when facing the back or just around the right edge when facing the front.

Sides


There are no features on the left side of the HDTV, but on the right side you'll find a second grouping of ports, which actually sit very near the ports on the back of the LN40B650.

Stand/Mount


The Samsung LN40B650's is heavier than the whole television itself. It's made of the same material as the bezel with a flat bottom that is styled in very dark red/black, again like the bezel. The television itself sits on a clear round pillar that rotates about twenty degrees towards you on either side.

Controls


As we mentioned above the on-tv controls are located on the front of the HDTV at the lower right. The controls are touch sensitive and are built right into the bezel. Unfortunately this makes them very difficult to see as they are only indicated by very faint white symbols and writing.

Remote Control


The Samsung LN40B650's remote control is something of a hybrid of the two different styles we've seen from Samsung previously. The remote is bottom weighted with a curve for ergonomic purposes, however it lacks the rotating dial embedded into the D-Pad, which isn't such a bad thing.

In The Box*(4.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650 ships with a variety of interesting accessories. There's the basics like the remote with batteries and the power cord. The manual doesn't come in a paper variety but rather on a USB key that you actually plug right into the HDTV and browse using the remote. This is an interesting feature, but we wonder what happens when you can't get your HDTV to work right and you need to access your manual for information?

You also get a cleaning cloth, a CD to install on your computer to use the Samsung LN40B650's network capabilities, and something called a TV Holder and screw. We're not sure what this is for, it's basically a small piece of plastic with a string attached. We don't recommend you try and hang your HDTV from it as don't believe it would actually 'hold' it. Unfortunately there's no HDMI cable included so you'll have to purchase one (or more) separately to connect the Samsung LN40B650 to the rest of your home theatre components.

Aesthetics*(6.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650's elicits varying responses. Some like the glossy finish, clean lines and the subtle red styling. Others find it a finger-print magnet, don't like the chin at the bottom of the bezel and think the red highlights are unnatractive. Basically it's a love it or hate it design, we recommend you see one in person before buying it to see if you can live with the way it looks.

Calibration

Calibration


[

](http://www.displaymate.com/)

Note: We mad an error in our original calibration process, we have updated this table with an adjustment to the gamma setting.

HDTVs don't come out of the box ready to give you the best picture possible. As such we use DisplayMate software and have worked closely with DisplayMate's creator to create a standardized method of calibrating every HDTV that we review. With the Samsung LN40B650, as with most HDTVS, we found the preset closest to our ideal to be the Movie mode. From here we adjusted a few controls and turned off processing features to ensure that we get the most accurate color and greyscale possible. This means we are willing to give up things like brightness in order to get accuracy in what the HDTV produces on the screen. If you wish you can pay for someone to come to your home and calibrate your HDTV, or you can use the settings we used, which are outlined below.

 

Video Modes


The Samsung LN40B650 offers four different preset video modes, below are the modes and Samsung's indication for when they are compatible.

Blacks & Whites

Black Level*(8.77)*


We measured the Samsung LN40B650's black level at 0.07 candelas per meter squared (cd/m2). This is an excellent black level, especially for an LCD HDTV, which tend to have more trouble producing deep blacks than Plasma televisions. You can see in our comparison chart below that the LN40B650 actually produced deeper blacks than Samsung's plasma model the PN50A760. It obviously produced much better black levels than the other two LCD models in our comparisons.

Deep blacks are important as it allows an HDTV to produce much more contrast between dark and bright areas of the display.

Peak Brightness*(9.01**)*


The Samsung LN40B650's peak brightness was measured at 365.79 cd/m2. This is the brightest white that we could produce on the HDTV using our calibrated settings. This is an excellent peak brightness, amongst the best we've seen from an HDTV. Below you can see that the Samsung LN40B650 outpaces all of our comparison televisions. In particular note that the peak brightness of the LCD LN40B650 is more than twice that of the plasma Samsung PN50A760. This highlights one of the problems of plasma televisions, that they are not capable of producing as bright an image as their LCD counterparts.

Contrast*(9.26)*


The Samsung LN40B650's contrast ratio of 5226:1 is simply the best we've ever measured to date. This excellent contrast ratio is due to the very deep blacks and very bright whites that the LN40B650 is capable of producing. Below you can see that the Samsung LN40B650 far outpaces our comparison HDTVs in this area.

Contrast is very important because the human eye is very sensitive to contrast. The more contrast an HDTV is capable of producing the better it's going to look to you.

Tunnel Contrast*(9.85)*


In this test we look at what happens to the black level of the HDTV as we put less and less black on the screen. You can see from our chart below that the Samsung LN40B650 does a very good job in this area, with black level staying very low even when 95% of the display is white and only 5% is black. This is important because in real life you don't view a 100% black screen, rather dark regions are going to be mixed together with bright regions. This tells us that the Samsung LN40B650 will be able to continue producing very good blacks even in mixed content.

White Falloff*(9.96)*


In this test we look at how well the peak brightness holds up as a progressively smaller percentage of the screen is white. The Samsung LN40B650 did very well in this test, with the peak brightness holding up even when the screen was 5% white and 95% black. White falloff usually isn't a problem with LCD HDTVs, so we're not surprised to see the LN40B650 do well here.

Uniformity*(7.5)*


We looked at how uniform the Samsung LN40B650's display was with both an all black screen and an all white screen. The white screen looked excellent, with very little dimming at the corners and edges and no problems with blotches or lack of uniformity across the center of the display. The all black screen had a bit more trouble. We noticed some very noticeable brightening at the corners and at a spot right near the bottom center. Almost all LCD HDTVs display some brightening at the corners and the LN40B650's brightening didn't take up as much of the display as we've seen on other televisions, but it was very noticeable with the dark screen.

Greyscale Gamma*(8.79)*


Note: we made an error in calibration that we have corrected since publication, as such the score in this section has changed. The original score was 5.56.

We measured the Samsung LN40B650's gamma at 2.4. This is slightly higher than the 2.1 to 2.2 gamma that we look for on HDTVs. The steeper gamma curve means that the LN40B650 makes adjustments along the greyscale a bit more aggressively than we would like, but this shouldn't be a serious issue. We should note that when we first tested the LN40B650 we measured its gamma at 2.94. Adjusting the gamma option up to +3, however, produced a significantly better result.

Resolution Scaling*(8.4)*


The Samsung LN40B650 supports the highest quality of HD content, known as 1080p. This means that the content has 1080 lines from top to bottom and displays all of the lines progressively, rather than interlacing them. Unfortunately the only place you can get 1080p content for your HDTV is from a Blu-ray disc. Most of the content you'll watch comes in different formats, and here we look at how well the LN40B650 handles those formats.

480p/i*(9.2)*

480p content is what you get from DVDs, while 408i is what you get from standard definition television. In both cases there are 480 lines of content from top to bottom, so a 1080p television like the Samsung LN40B650 needs to upscale this content to fit on the larger number of pixels. The LN40B650 did a good job with this process as we noticed no problems with legibility, resolution or moire patterns, which sometimes appear in complex patterns when upscaling is not done correctly. We did notice a mild overscane of 3% on all sides, which means that 3% of the picture is cut off.

720p*(8.0)*

720p is the lowest quality of high definition content, with 720 lines displayed progressively from top to bottom. This format is the standard for high definition content you get online and is sometimes used by HD broadcasts instead of 1080i because the progressive signal is better able to display fast motion than the interlaced signal of 1080i. The Samsung LN40B650 had obvious problem with 720p content, vertical banding appearing in complex patterns. There were no problems with legibility, resolution and interestingly there were no overscan issues. The vertical banding, however, could be very annoying if you happen to be viewing content with a pattern that the LN40B650 has trouble with.

1080i*(8.0)*

1080i has the same 1080 lines from top to bottom that 1080p content does, but instead of displaying all the lines at once 1080i interlaces two sets of 540 lines. This reduces the bandwidth necessary to transmit the signal and this is why 1080i is used as the standard for broadcast HD. Unfortunately the interlace process can also produce some negative effects if the processing is not done well. On the Samsung LN40B650 the only major problem we noticed was that the HDTV had trouble resolving very tightly packed patterns. We saw no problem with legibility and no moire patterns appeared.

Color Accuracy

Color Temperature*(8.11)*


Note: we made an error in calibration that we have corrected since publication, as such the score in this section has changed. The original score was 7.83.

Like any light emitting object the light given off by your HDTV has a certain temperature that can range from cool and yellow/red to hot and blue. We attempt to calibrate HDTVs to get as close to the industry standard color temperature of 6500 Kelvin (K) as possible. Ideally the color temperature will stay constant across the greyscale, so as the HDTV gives off any shade of grey from the darkest up to the brightest whites the color temperature will stay the same. In this test we look at how well the Samsung LN40B650 handled that. Below you see a graph of our measured color temperature for the LN40B650 across the greyscale.

You can see that the Samsung LN40B650 had some minor problem with colors getting warmer with darker greys. It is not uncommon to see HDTVs struggle a bit with color temperature at this extreme and the Samsung LN40B650's performance won't have too negative an impact on your viewing experience. You can see this more clearly in the chart below.

Here you see the same data from the curve above but this time graphed as points. The circle represents the range within the human eye can't detect changes in color temperature. You'll note that most points fall within that circle, which is exactly what we want to see. You may get a slightly yellow cast to very dark greys, but it likely won't be very noticeable.

RGB Curves*(9.06)*


Note: we made an error in calibration that we have corrected since publication, as such the score in this section has changed. The original score was 9.05.

All the colors your HDTV produces are created by mixing different amounts of red, green and blue light. In this test we look at the accuracy of those three colors. Below you can see the curves for each of the three colors that we obtained from our testing of the Samsung LN40B650. The curves are concave and fairly smooth, which is exactly what we want to see. In addition there is no significant peaking, which we sometimes see in HDTVs and indicate an inability to differentiate between very bright shades of the color.

We also run through a variety of different test photos with HDTVs to try and detect artifacts, which are things that shouldn't be there but appear because of processing errors. Thankfully we detected no significant problems with the Samsung LN40B650. That combined with the smooth color curves and lack of peaking with intense colors produces an excellent color score for the Samsung LN40B650.

Color Gamut*(5.36)*


Note: we made an error in calibration that we have corrected since publication, as such the score in this section has changed. The original score was 5.36.

In order to ensure that we get the colors we expect when watching content on our HDTVs all televisions must use an industry standard color gamut known as Rec.709. In this test we look at how well the Samsung LN40B650 matched this industry standard. Below you can see a graph of our results with the LN40B650's performance graphed against the standard.

You can see that the Samsung LN40B650 does a decent job of matching the color gamut in the red and green regions, but is significantly off in the blues. The end result is a score that's j average, frankly a lot of HDTVs struggle in this area, but the fact that almost all the error comes in a single color means that you can expect blues on the LN40B650 to be visibly off. That means that the blue the content creator wanted you to see is likelly not the blue you'll actually see on the LN40B650. For those who are geeky enough to care you can see the exact color coordinates and error that we saw on the Samsung LN40B650 in the table below.

Motion

Motion Smoothness*(7.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650 features 120Hz refresh rate, which is a method used by LCD manufacturers to try and reduce motion blurring. The Samsung LN40B650 does a decent job, producing only a small amount of blurring in complex patterns like faces. When we looked at solid objects, however, we noticed significantly more blurring. The performance was about the same when dealing with both 1080p and 1080i content.

The LN40B650 offers users very detailed control over the effects of it's refresh rate, with independant blurring and judder controls and several different presets. Unfortunately we didn't notice any improvement to the Samsung LN40B650's performance as we adjusted those controls, which is ok as the LN40B650's performance is already above average in this area.

Motion Artifacting*(3.5)*


Artifacting refers to things that appear on the screen that shouldn't be there. They usually appear due to problems with processing. Unfortunately the Samsung LN40B650 displayed several different artifacts related to motion. There was a very noticeable shutter effect that we saw in both moving still images and with test patterns. We also saw content on the screen tilt noticeably as it moved. Finally there were definite areas of brightness leading and trailing certain objects on the display. We were very dissapointed with the extensive artifacting we saw on the Samsung LN40B650.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps*(8.0)*


3:2 pulldown refers to the process by which an HDTV will take a broadcast signal that comes in at 60 frames per second (fps) and converts it to 24 frames per second. This occurs with films that should be displayed at 24fps as this framerate gives content a film-like feel. The Samsung LN40B650 did a decent job with this process, we noticed only minor glitches in test patterns and saw very little evidence of the 'jaggies' that can occur when this process is done poorly.

The Samsung LN40B650 can also natively handle 24fps content, which you'll get from DVDs or Blu-ray discs. When you do watch content at 24fps, however, we strongly recommend turning off the HDTVs 120Hz refresh rate as the LN40B650 doesn't seem to do a very good job of interpolating the 24fps content for a screen that refreshes 120 times a second.

Viewing Effects

Viewing Angle*(4.55)*


The Samsung LN40B650 has a very poor viewing angle of 19 degrees from center, for a total viewing angle of 38 degrees. This is only half of our average viewing angle of 41 degrees from center, and is pretty poor even for an LCD HDTV, which tend to have worse viewing angles than plasma televisions. Below you can see our graph for the Samsung LN40B650's viewing angle. We calculate the acceptable viewing angle as the point at which the contrast ratio falls below 50% of the optimum. We did appreciate that colors did hold up well across viewing angles, with no significant solarization or fading.

The Samsung LN40B650's poor viewing angle means that you should really watch it from directly in front. This makes it a poor choice for a large room where you expect to have people viewing the television from a wide range of angles.

Reflectance*(4.5)*


The Samsung LN40B650's display is very reflective. Lights shined onto the display were not diffused at all, we were able to make out the individual LED  lights of the array we use to do this test. Even when the light is shined on from an oblique angle it is still very noticeable. We also noticed significant streaking from the light on the display, especially when the display is dark. You should make sure that the Samsung LN40B650 is set up so that none of the lights in your room are able to shine directly onto the display.

Video Processing*(3.5)*


Like most HDTVs the Samsung LN40B650 offers a variety of video processing options that allow you to tweak certain settings or address some problems. Most of the time these options do little and aren't worth playing with. They also cause problems with processing so we turn them off (if possible) in our calibration process. If you have a significant problem with your image, however, it might be worth trying them out. Below are our impressions.

Remote Control

Ergonomics & Durability*(7.20)*


The Samsung LN40B650's remote is very similar to the one that came with the Samsung PN50A760, with the exception that the directional pad is made up of real buttons instead of the rotating dial, which we don't think is much of a loss. The remote is heavily back weighted, with a bulge at the end that gives it very good balance in the hand. It is a bit long, however, and although it's nicely contoured the slick plastic makes it a bit easier to drop than we'd like.

We do like the baklight function on the remote. There's a dedicated backlight button that lights up in the dark so you can find it easily. Press the button and all the rest of the button on the remote are illuminated in a mild orange light that's very easy on the eyes. The buttons are made of soft plastic and provide a reasonable amount of key travel, but not a lot of tactile feedback. Despite a couple of flaws we like the remote a lot, it should be comfortable to use on a regular basis and the backlight is very well thought out.

Button Layout & Use*(4.85)*


At neutral your thumb sits right above the directional pad on the Samsung LN40B650's remote. The menu button and several additional navigation buttons are all within easy reach, especially for those with small hands. Unfortunately the channel and volume buttons will require a stretch or a shift for those with smaller hands. Speaking of which there are buttons studded across almost the entire face of the remote, and given it's length you'll find yourself moving up and down the remote a lot. We were happy that the remote was able to control the television at a very oblique angle, but we did notice that on occasion we had to shift our target to the right side of the LN40B650 as pointing at the left side wouldn't always work.

Programming & Flexibility*(1.0)*


Unfortunately the Samsung LN40B650's remote doesn't work as a universal remote, nor does it have programmable buttons. It will work to control other Samsung devices connected via HDMI or Optical Audio Out using Samsung's Anynet+ system. We're not big fans of such proprietary systems, but we will award a single point for this functionality.

Audio

Sound Quality*(4.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650's built-in speakers did not produce very impressive audio quality. The sound was clear, but flat and tinny, lacking the depth we've seen from other HDTVs. We recommend looking into some speakers if you want to get good quality audio out of the Samsung LN40B650.

Surround Sound*(3.0)*


Like most HDTVs the Samsung LN40B650 offers a simulated surround sound mode. Turning this feature on did add a little bit of depth to the audio, which isn't saying much. Frankly if you care about audio quality at all you'll be best off investing in even a cheap set of surround sound speakers. We do need to mention, however, that it seems like the Samsung LN40B650 cannot output surround sound from its optical audio out. We tested this in our lab and indeed the rear speakers were mute. This means you'll need to connect your surround sound system directly to your DVD/Blu-ray/Console in order to get suround sound.

Maximum Volume*(7.73)*


We measured the Samsung LN40B650's maximum volume at 77.3 decibels. This is at the lower end of the spectrum for an HDTV, but it should be quite loud enough for anyone who wants to ruin their hearing by cranking the volume all the way up.

Connectivity

Input Ports*(7.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650's ports are arranged in two groups, one on the right side of the HDTV and the other just around the right side on the back. On the right side you'll find one HDMI input, the HDTVs only composite video input and an analog audio input.

On the back you'll find the majority of input ports. Here are three additional HDMI inputs, an RGB input for connecting older computers along with an associated 3.5mm audio input. You'll also find two component video inputs and three analog audio inputs, one of which is associated with the HDMI inputs.  Finally you'll find the antenna input, which supports both digital and analog over the air and cable signals.

Output Ports*(2.0)*


As with most HDTVs the only output ports on the Samsung LN40B650 are one digital audio out and one analog audio out, both found on the back of the HDTV.

Other Connections*(3.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650 is one of a new generation of HDTVs that tout their internet connectivity, and as such you'll find a LAN port on the back of the television so you can connec to the internet. You can also use this to connect to your computer and stream content from it directly to your television. You will need to install the Samsung PC Share Manager software on your computer, which comes on an included CD.

Media*(2.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650 has two USB ports, which is an interesting trend we've seen with newer Samsung HDTVs. This allows you to connect two USB devices to your HDTV and access media from them, although you can only access one at a time. You can also attach a USB hard drive to the USB 1 port.

Placement*(8.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650's ports are very well positioned. The ports on the right side can be easily accessed for quickly connecting a device, even if the HDTV is mounted on a wall. Those on the back are placed right around the right side of the HDTV, meaning you won't have to stretch around to the middle of the back to reach them. Combined with the swiveling stand this makes all of the ports on the LN40B650 very easy to reach.

Ease of Use*(8.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650's menu system is a simple and attractive tabbed interface, with top level menus arrayed in a column on the left and items for those menus appearing to the right. The menu interface is intuitive and easy to use, we especially like that you can wrap from the top of a menu to the bottom, something you can't do on all HDTVs. Menu items that can be adjusted along a scale shift to the bottom of the screen when being adjusted, which allows you to see what the effect is on the display.

Sub menus appear in a box in the middle of the screen that replaces the main menu interface, while items with multiple options appear in a small pop-up box. We also like the helpful explanations that appear at the bottom of the screen when an item is selected. Overall the menu interface is consistent, attractive and easy to use. Our only major annoyance is that the menu system seemed a bit slow to respond at times.

Picture Controls*(8.0)*


At the top level the Samsung LN40B650's picture menu offers access to the basics that you'd expect. You'll find the mode at the top, which switches between Dynamic, Standard, Natural and Movie. You can also adjust backlight, contrast, brightness, sharpness, color and tint from the top level.

There are two sub-menus available, ine called Advanced Settings and another called Picture Options. The advanced settings menu offers you detailed controls for adjusting gamma and white balance as well as black tone, dynamic contrast, color space, flesh tone and edge enhancement.

The picture options menu allows you to adjust the color temperature, which Samsung calls color tone, as well as access features like digital NR, film mode and blue only mode. You'll also find the controls for the 120Hz refresh rate here. Samsung have included several presets here as well as discrete controls for Blur and Judder reduction, something new in their lineup. We like the discrete controls that Samsung offers in their picture sub-menus, this will give those who like to fiddle with their HDTV a lot of options. For those who don't you'll be able to just access the basics at the top level.

 

Audio Controls*(6.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650s sound menu offers users with five modes to choose from. There's also an equlizer on board for fine tuning, the option to turn the simulated surround sound on/off and some nice additional options like auto volume for equalizing volume and mult-track sound options.

Other Controls*(10.0)*


In addition to the picture and sound menus the Samsung LN40B650 has five additional top-level menus. These are Channel, Setup, Input, Application and Support. The channel menu allows you to program and control channels from an antenna or cable connection.

The setup menu allows you to adjust V-chip settings as well as time and lanuguage. You'll also find the option for game mode here, which is a little strange, as well as network setup and energy options.

The input menu allows you to access your source list and edit names for sources. The Application menu is where you manage media playback from USB devices, Anynet+ for controlling other Samsung devices and the Internet@TV service, which gives you access to various online widgets. Finally the support menu let's you check for and install firmware upgrades, look through the product guide and includes contact information for Samsung.

Manual*(1.0)*


Unlike most HDTVs the Samsung LN40B650's manual doesn't come as a booklet, rather it is loaded onto a USB drive that you can plug into one of the television's USB ports and browse on the screen itself. Although an interesting concept we have a couple of problems with it. First, you can't do anything else while running through the manual, so you can't be looking at how to do something and then actually do it on the HDTV. Second an manual that can only be accessed on the television doesn't do much good if you're having trouble getting the television to work.

What's more you can't even plug the USB drive into a computer to browse the manual, or at least it didn't work on the Windows or Mac computers we tested it with. There's not even a PDF version loaded on the USB stick. As such we're only awarding it a single point. If you want a manual for your Samsung LN40B650 that's actually useful we recommend downloading a PDF version from Samsung's website.

Formats & Media

Formats*(10.5)*


The Samsung LN40B650 is a full 1080p HDTV, meaning it can support the highest quality of HD content, as well as supporting upscaling for lower resolution content and, of course, natively displayd 1080i content. It also supports 3:2 pulldown and native 24fps, although as we mentioned in our Motion section we recommend turning off the 120Hz refresh rate when watching 24fps content. Finally it supports an expanded color gamut using the xvYCC standard, although such content isn't widely available yet.

Photo Playback*(6.0)*


There are multiple ways to get photos onto the Samsung LN40B650's display. The first way is to connect a USB device with photos to one of the two USB ports on the right. The second is to get the photos from your network using the LAN port. In either case your interface will look the same, you are first presented with the option to choose between Photos, Music and Video content. Choosing photos will allow you to browe through folders for the USB device or your network. Select one with photos in it and you get a strip of thumbnails on the screen. The only photo type the LN40B650 supports is JPEG.

You can move between photos using left/right on the directional pad. Pressing the center button will enlarge the photo to full screen. There are also a couple of additional options, for example you can zoom and roate photos, as well as play background music, although not all of these are available when accessing photos via the LAN. Finally you can set up a slideshow, with options for speed, transitions and music. Overall the interface is relatively easy to use, but we did find it a bit slow to respond.

Music & Video Playback*(3.0)*


As with photo playback music and video playback can be done from a USB device or over the network using the LAN connection. In both cases you start at the same Media Play screen and can choose the type of media you want to access from here. Music playback gives you a strip of thumbnails for Mp3 songs, which are the only type supported. Album art is supported if the album art is embedded into the file. Playing a song brings up full screen conrols, although for some reason the album art dissapears, even if you were able to see it in the thumbnail view. You can set the repeat mode, but not shuffle.

Video playback supports a variety of formats, including AVI, MKV, ASF, MP4, 3GPP, PS, TS containers. Once again you are given a thumbnail strip view where ou can select your video. Entering playback mode will start playing the video full screen. There is support for starting playback from the last point started if watching video from a USB device, but unfortunately this doesn't work over the network.

Streaming Playback*(3.0)*


Given the internet connectivity on the Samsung LN40B650 you might be hoping to access a wide variety of internet video sources with the television. Unfortunately the only streaming video source currently available is Yahoo Video, which is accessible via the widgets engine. There is not yet any support for Netflix, Youtube, Hulu or any other online video service, which is a bit of a dissapointment.

That said there is support for some services aside from video. There's a Flickr widget for viewing photos from the web as well as a Pandora widget for listening to streaming music. We can only hope that Samsung becomes more aggressive with their online strategy, at this point the internet connectivity features are a nice extra but not a reason to purchase the HDTV.

Other Media*(0.0)*


The Samsung LN40B650 does not have a built-in DVR, Blu-ray or DVD player.

Power Consumption

Power Consumption*(8.7)*


To test power consumption we adjust an HDTV to give off 200 cd/m2, with an LCD this is done by adjusting the backlight. We then run through a standard video with the volume at zero to see how much power is drawn by the HDTV. The Samsung LN40B650 did very well in this test, drawing an average of 133.54 watts under these conditions. For an average U.S. family that works out to $26.08 in power costs each year. Below you can see all of our results, including the power draw with the backlight turned up to maximum and down to the minimum.

Below you can see how the Samsung LN40B650 performed compared to other HDTVs. You can see that it it drew a bit more power than the other two LCD televisions, but significantly less than the Plasma HDTV, which is what we expect to see. Overall the LN40B650's power consumption was below average.

Conclusion & Comparisons

 

 

Series Comparison

LNXXB650 Series


Samsung B650 series of LCD HDTVs offer a variety of high-end features, including internet connectivity, 2 usb ports and 120Hz refresh rate for improved motion performance. Every model in the series offers a full 1080p resolution and support Yahoo Widgets, albeit with a limited selection at the time of this writing. There are four models in the series 32, 37, 40 and 46 inches. We reviewed the 40 inch model.

Ratings & Specs

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Meet the tester

Alfredo Padilla

Alfredo Padilla

Editor

Alfredo Padilla is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.

See all of Alfredo Padilla's reviews

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